Men's Lacrosse

W&L Men's Lacrosse Picked Third in ODAC Preseason Poll

Feb 04, 2014

FOREST, Va. – The Old Dominion Athletic Conference released its 2014 men's lacrosse preseason coaches poll on Tuesday afternoon and Washington and Lee was picked to finish third out of the league's 10 lacrosse playing schools.

Lynchburg topped the poll with six first-place votes and 78 total points. Roanoke registered 76 total points and the remaining four first-place votes to finish second in the voting. The Generals totaled 64 points and were followed by Hampden-Sydney (53), Virginia Wesleyan (48), Randolph-Macon (47), Guilford (33), Randolph (25), Bridgewater (16) and Shenandoah (10).

The Generals return six starters and 30 letterwinners from last year's team that finished 16-5 overall and 7-2 in league play. W&L fell to Roanoke 10-9 in the 2013 ODAC title game, but received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where it dropped a 7-4 decision to Salisbury in the second round.

Mitchell earned First Team All-ODAC honors after winning 61.5 percent (190-309) of his faceoffs and adding two goals and two assists. Dabir led the team in scoring with 61 points on 43 goals and 18 assists. A Second Team All-ODAC selection in 2013, he already claims 106 career points (70 G, 36 A) in just two seasons.

Paglia and Berenis are both preseason Honorable Mention All-America selections by Faceoff Magazine. Paglia tallied 25 goals and seven assists last spring en route to earning Second Team All-ODAC and Honorable Mention All-America laurels. Berenis started all 21 games in goal and boasted a .573 save percentage and a 7.34 goals-against average. He was also named to the ODAC All-Tournament team after posting 33 saves across the three tournament contests.

Washington and Lee opens the 2014 season next Tuesday, February 11 with a home contest against Ferrum at 5:00 pm.